Standard Chartered strikes a £216m deal to put an end to Irangate

Banking giant Standard Chartered last night agreed to pay £216million to regulators for breaching US sanctions over its dealings with Iran.

Sorry: Peter Sands (Picture: EPA)

The British bank’s chief executive, Peter Sands, negotiated the deal, averting a hearing scheduled to start today into allegations the bank had illegally hidden 60,000 transactions worth about £160million with the Middle Eastern state.

As part of the agreement brokered with New York’s superintendent of financial services, Benjamin M Lawsky, Standard will appoint a monitor to oversee see its global dealings.

The deal ends a week of accusations and counter-accusations from both sides of the Atlantic.

On announcing its plans to investigate, the New York regulators attacked Standard’s integrity, accusing it of being a ‘rogue institution’.

Mr Sands admitted he was ‘completely surprised’ by the accusation, while some British experts suggested the claims were being made to undermine London’s financial standing. However, he did concede yesterday 300 transactions broke the sanctions, adding: ‘This was clearly wrong and we are sorry that they happened.’